Thank, you Google Image Search.The Barbarian Group is one of the advertising firms on the forefront of interactivity. Years ago, I happened upon their most famous creation, Subservient Chicken. An oversized chicken carries out your every whim and command--how joyous and sadistic. I was fully engaged. I don't think I've ever bought what it was selling--a burger king chicken tendercrisp--but I consider this little experiment a success for simple interactivity. When the Barbarian Group attempts to delve into the more complex, however, they begin having issues.
Waking Up Hannah is an interactive film/sitcom which advertises for Dove soap. In it, we follow a young woman's day, in which she has a blind date. Intermittently, we are asked to make certain simple choices--such as what type of dove soap she will use. Our choice corresponds to a different outcome in the show. While the show has relatively high production value and a clear appeal to Dove's demographic, in my view it does not work in terms of pure interactivity. For one, the "choices" are not efficiently integrated into the narrative. It feels gimmicky and takes us out of the story. And also, while there is cause & effect embedded within the interaction, the possible outcomes seem especially finite. Though there is the facade of choice, it is clear that we are being guided to one of few possible conclusions. It would seem that narrative poses issues for true interaction.
In my experience, an intriguing new media model for interactive narrative is the "Alternate Reality Game" or ARG. A main component of the ARG is its lack of a singular platform. Instead, the game takes place in the "real world." That is, story information is related through [fake] websites, telephone messages or conversations with actors, videos, and real life encounters and events. Since the blurring of reality and fiction is a key tenant of ARG's, these elements are integrated seamlessly into the player's non-fiction world. By contrast, Waking Up Hannah's medium is always at the forefront. It is as a constant reminder to the viewer that their choices are limited by the producer's technology. In an ideal ARG model, the interactivity of the narrative is only limited by the players' imagination and ingenuity.
ARG's have been used for a number of succesful advertising campaigns, though I wonder about their quantative success. While ARG's fully immerse the user and require a large time investsent, it still remains a fairly niche idea.
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interactivity
Waking Up Hannah is an interactive film/sitcom which advertises for Dove soap. In it, we follow a young woman's day, in which she has a blind date. Intermittently, we are asked to make certain simple choices--such as what type of dove soap she will use. Our choice corresponds to a different outcome in the show. While the show has relatively high production value and a clear appeal to Dove's demographic, in my view it does not work in terms of pure interactivity. For one, the "choices" are not efficiently integrated into the narrative. It feels gimmicky and takes us out of the story. And also, while there is cause & effect embedded within the interaction, the possible outcomes seem especially finite. Though there is the facade of choice, it is clear that we are being guided to one of few possible conclusions. It would seem that narrative poses issues for true interaction.
In my experience, an intriguing new media model for interactive narrative is the "Alternate Reality Game" or ARG. A main component of the ARG is its lack of a singular platform. Instead, the game takes place in the "real world." That is, story information is related through [fake] websites, telephone messages or conversations with actors, videos, and real life encounters and events. Since the blurring of reality and fiction is a key tenant of ARG's, these elements are integrated seamlessly into the player's non-fiction world. By contrast, Waking Up Hannah's medium is always at the forefront. It is as a constant reminder to the viewer that their choices are limited by the producer's technology. In an ideal ARG model, the interactivity of the narrative is only limited by the players' imagination and ingenuity.
ARG's have been used for a number of succesful advertising campaigns, though I wonder about their quantative success. While ARG's fully immerse the user and require a large time investsent, it still remains a fairly niche idea.
Photo credit:
interactivity
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